New York Fuel Falls on Refinery Startup, Diesel Shipments

Gasoline and diesel fuel fell in New
York Harbor as Hess Corp. (HES) prepared to return its Port Reading
refinery to normal operations and as diesel demand increased on
U.S. East Coast.

Hess said yesterday it expects the 70,000-barrel-a-day Port
Reading refinery in New Jersey, which shut Nov. 27 after a power
outage, to resume full production by tomorrow. Diesel demand is
increasing in the East because of reconstruction following
Hurricane Sandy.

Diesel shipments to Europe may fall to the lowest in six
weeks as more tankers send the fuel to the East Coast, according
to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of six ship brokers
who specialize in the trade.

Conventional gasoline to be blended with ethanol, or CBOB,
declined in New York Harbor by 1.12 cents to trade at a premium
of 3.13 cents a gallon against futures on the New York
Mercantile Exchange at 1:48 p.m. Ultra-low-sulfur diesel in the
region retreated 1 cent to 15 cents over heating oil futures.